How It Ends by Catherine Lo

“You had me really worried there.”
    â€œWorried?”
    â€œYeah . . . you know. You’re my best friend.” She gave me a playful kick under the table. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
    My mouth was suddenly dry. “Wh-why would I get hurt?” My voice came out so squeaky it made me cringe.
    She shrugged. “You know . . . if you liked him or whatever and he wasn’t interested.”
    A rush of feelings hit me so hard I couldn’t sort them out. I was embarrassed and hurt and angry all at once. Annie could not imagine a situation in which Scott would be interested in me. That bothered me much more than it should have, given that I could barely imagine such a scenario myself. But Annie is supposed to be my best friend.
    I swallowed hard and fought to keep the quiver out of my voice. “Obviously he wouldn’t be interested. I’m not delusional, Annie.”
    â€œThat’s not what I meant,” she protested. But it
was
what she meant, and we both knew it.

    By the time I walked into the library, I was a mess. And it didn’t help that Scott wasn’t there. I was just starting to panic when I felt a tug on my backpack. I turned and flashed him a beaming smile . . . only to find Charlie standing where Scott should have been.
    â€œWow,” he said, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “It’s good to see you looking so . . . happy. We miss you at lunch.”
    I looked at him sideways. “Really? I figured I was kind of annoying, always hanging around last year.”
    â€œYou were never annoying.”
    â€œKevin
told
me I was annoying. Daily.”
    Charlie’s face broke into a lopsided grin. “Kevin finds everyone annoying. I thought you were great.”
    His smile was contagious, and I laughed, remembering how exasperated Kevin used to get.
    â€œAnyway,” Charlie said, clearing his throat, “I just wanted to give you this.” He slipped a thin booklet out of his binder and held it up.
    â€œA comic book?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t read those, remember?”
    â€œOh, I remember your stubbornness, Ms. Snobby Reader. But do you remember how I said one good comic would change your mind about that? Besides, this isn’t just any old comic. I wrote this one.”
    â€œSeriously?” I asked, taking it from him. “It looks so professional.”
    I flipped it open to take a look, but his hand shot out and settled over mine. “Don’t read it now. I mean . . . save it for later. When you have time. We can, uh, talk about it later.”
    I nodded and slipped the book into my bag, rattled by the feeling of his hand and the intensity of his voice. “You look different,” I blurted.
    He shrugged. “I grew my hair out a bit,” he admitted.
    â€œAnd got some new clothes,” I said, like a complete moron. “I mean . . . not that there was anything wrong with your old clothes . . .”
    Charlie gave a low chuckle that made me blush. “You’re as smooth as ever, Jess,” he teased. “But you do have a point.” He leaned in closer and looked around before whispering, “Don’t tell anyone, but my mom picked out my clothes last year. I decided it was about time for that to stop.”
    â€œMuch better,” I choked out, trying not to notice the way his T-shirt stretched across muscles that had definitely not been there last year. What the heck was wrong with me?
    â€œI have to admit that I did have help. Have you met Jody yet?”
    I shook my head as Scott walked through the library doors. I felt like my heart was going to implode.
    â€œShe’s new this year, and she decided that Kev and I needed fashion interventions. You should come hang out with us again—I think you’d really like her.”
    I opened my mouth to reply just as Scott stepped between us.